(KANSAS CITY, Mo.), April 18, 2013 – Cities across the United States are looking for lessons on how to build entrepreneurial communities to help fuel their economies. ID8 Nation, a multimedia channel launching today on the Kauffman Foundation website, entrepreneurship.org, explores cities' entrepreneurial ecosystems to provide insights on what grows in them and why. The first city profiled is Pittsburgh.

"By examining the entrepreneurial elements of cities like Pittsburgh, we hope to shed light on what makes these ecosystems successful and offer up lessons to others," said Thom Ruhe, vice president of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation. "Pittsburgh's story of building a diversified economy after the collapse of the steel industry and an entrepreneurial ecosystem powered by its universities is inspirational and educational."

ID8 Nation tells how Pittsburgh is transforming its economy – and its neighborhoods – through entrepreneurship, and features entrepreneurial hotspots, such as a jazz club that mixes music and startups; a Demo Day; diverse startups; and sources of capital in the city.

With a name that plays off of the word "ideate" (to form an idea of, imagine or conceive), ID8 Nation features the creative and innovative entrepreneurial scenes of select cities and the people starting businesses there. Stories are told primarily through video, with prose, podcasts and infographics rounding out the packages. Visitors are invited to comment to enable an exchange of ideas.

The next city to be spotlighted in coming weeks will be San Diego. Visitors can nominate a city they believe has a vibrant entrepreneurial community for a future ID8 Nation segment here. Follow the conversation on Twitter at #ID8Nation.